Category: Data and Analytics

There is an increasing amount of overlap between front office functions (advertising, marketing, PR, presence management) and back office functions (human resources, scheduling, delivery, payment processing, accounting, business analysis). ReachLocal, for instance, has been delivering services on both ends with ReachEdge. It isn’t alone. A number of companies are engaging in “A Commerce” (Appointment Commerce), […]

The application of Financial Technology is a major part of our vision for local ‘close the loop,” transaction marketing. As an executive from MasterCard Advisors noted during one of our 2011 events, “You are what you buy, not what you search for.” Customer analytics, prepaid deals, loyalty programs, card linked offers, small business loan programs […]

Marketing automation is playing a key role in making local scale for many marketers. It’s been front-and- center for companies like Demand Force, InfusionSoft and SignPost. Another contender is Frederick, a 20+ person marketing automation company based in San Francisco that was recently acquired by Booker. Frederick takes a Big Data approach to data it […]

Amazon Echo represents a new eco-system for commerce, and is arguably, one of the biggest innovations in recent years. By simply voicing a request triggered by a common command, (“Hey, Alexa”), users can tap into hundreds of apps that are being specially designed to link their Web info – from movies and music to medical […]

The conventional wisdom in the industry is that a loyal customer brings in 5X the revenue of a new customer. A slew of loyalty marketing platforms are reinforcing the CW with new technology that reach deeply into understanding and targeting loyal customers with superior analytics, incentives and ad campaigns. Loyalty platforms include such players as […]

MarTech — the integration of software and marketing — is a wild card in the new generation of marketing. The new era of Martech takes into account not only ads and promotion, but content and experience, social and relationships, commerce and sales, data and management. The question for us is how it all ultimately applies […]

In 2012, payments seemed to be the horse to ride in on for marketing services, as SMBs saw the coming era of mobile payments as an opportunity to dislodge credit card companies with cheaper payment processing, coupled with complete suite of analytics, promotions, and loyalty services. Key candidates included Google Wallet, ISIS, PayPal, First Data,Groupon’s […]